There’s no doubting that the PSone is one of the greatest video game consoles of all time. The plethora of brand new IP, quality RPGs, and game-changing releases that landed on Sony’s debut PlayStation is arguably unmatched by any system that came before it or followed up on its success.

Ape Escape

The Ape Escape series was the epitomy of PlayStation during the PSone era. Strong mascots led the way for Sony in its debut generation, and the adventures of Spike still live long in the memory for us as he perilously tries to clean up the wrongdoings of ape Spector and the army he has spawned.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Continuously referred to as one of the greatest video games of all time, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is an essential inclusion. The journey through Dracula’s castle is 2D gaming at its very best, with unforgettable boss battles, a vast and sprawling map, and the twist that spawns an entire inverted castle. The title is still used as a source of inspiration to this very day and it’s easy to see why.

Chrono Cross

Things drastically changed for the JRPG genre back in 1997 and Chrono Cross, sequel to the classic Chrono Trigger, felt like the first game to really react to that and bring in a few innovations of its own. The ability to run away from every battle and the stamina bar were two departures that made Chrono Cross feel fresh in a crowded genre, as well as earning it the title of one of the greatest PSone JRPGs.

Crash Bandicoot

Crash Bandicoot is PlayStation at its very best. The Bandicoot was the Sony mascot for a generation and played a big role in so many childhoods, which is why the remastered PS4 trilogy is getting so much attention in 2017. Quality level design, memorable characters, and an incredibly fun gameplay loop is why the Crash Bandicoot series will never be forgotten by so many, and in turn helped PlayStation become the brand it is today.

Crash Team Racing

When he wasn’t collecting wumpa fruit, Crash Bandicoot was hitting the streets in Crash Team Racing. This kart racer was incredibly popular and it helped to flesh out the franchise with 15 playable characters, numerous game modes, and power-ups for days. PlayStation’s answer to Mario Kart was a successful and popular one, and to this day it remains one of the best kart racers to not feature an Italian plumber.

Final Fantasy VII

The JRPG classic that changed gaming. Cloud’s journey to stop Sephiroth is widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time, and a collection of PlayStation classics such as this wouldn’t look right without Final Fantasy VII. The turn-based combat was flawless, the story epic and grand, and the characters are still remembered fondly in 2017. Some may that its sequels went on to become better overall games, but it’s Final Fantasy VII that changed the industry forever.

Gran Turismo

Another industry defining game comes in the form of Gran Turismo, the real driving simulator. Back in 1997, GT changed the game for driving simulators and spawned one of PlayStation’s most popular franchises. The title brought simulated racing to the masses with over 140 cars and 11 tracks in its initial release, and sequels more than doubling those numbers.

Medievil

The Medievil franchise may have been lost to time, but its legacy will never be forgotten. The adventures of Sir Daniel Fortesque represent Sony’s commitment to developing brand new IP, because there had been nothing really like Medievil’s trek through Gallowmere before it, and nothing has quite emulated it since then. Because of that, the title belongs on a line-up of PlayStation classics.

Metal Gear Solid

The first PlayStation release in one of the greatest video game series of all time, Metal Gear Solid symbolises yet another industry defining moment. The story of Shadow Moses brought along with it a deep, engaging, and sometimes wacky story, and cut scenes that a 1998 player would never have experienced before. Combined with memorable boss fights, innovative gameplay, and remarkable characters, and you’ve got an incredible experience that still holds up to this day. One of Sony’s very, very best.

PaRappa the Rapper

PaRappa the Rapper is widely regarded as one of the originators of the modern rhythm game genre. The rapping classic featured songs that everyone would find themselves tapping their foot to as well as a gameplay loop that kept you on the beat, all the while engraving the lyrics into your head. I gotta believe!

Resident Evil

The survival horror pioneer belongs on this list for being yet another PlayStation title that changed things upon its release. Limited ammunition made every shot count, inventory management made you consider every item you picked up, the mansion was simply an unforgettable setting, the zombies were menacing and posed a very real threat, and then the voice acting was a real source of comedy. An extraordinary title that signified a landmark moment in the industry.

Resident Evil 2

The sequel that managed to improve on everything that came before it. Resident Evil 2 is considered by many to be the crowning achievement of the series thanks to a wider range of environments, a better story and cast of characters, and much improved dialogue. The same classic survival horror gameplay loop is present but it’s everything surrounding it that’s built upon which helped to create one of the best horror videogames of all time.

Silent Hill

Yet another classic survival horror series that was founded on the PSone. Harry Mason’s search for his daughter through Silent Hill takes players to some truly unimaginable and grotesque places with twisted and horrifying enemies to fight along the way. With a very limited range of weaponry on offer and the prowess of its monster, it’s this combination that kept Silent Hill players up at night.

Spyro the Dragon

We return to another PlayStation mascot in the form of Spyro the Dragon. At the time the title made full use of the PSone’s capabilities with outstanding graphics and smooth gameplay, but it was the character of Spyro and his personality that lives long in the heart of many gamers. A likeable dragon who you could root for in his quest to defeat Gnasty and free all the dragons in the Artisan World. Another PlayStation classic that helped to form many childhood memories.

Syphon Filter

The taser must not become a relic of the past. Syphon Filter is another definitive stealth experience that found its home on the PSone with an immersive plot, excellent AI for its time, and a huge arsenal of weaponry on offer. Gabriel Logan set himself apart from Solid Snake by taking advantage of the gadgets he had at his disposal, and this combined with the excellent stealth based mechanics on offer, it’s easy to see why Logan was just as successful at his job as Snake was.

Tekken 3

One of the best fighting games of all time found its way onto the PSone in the Spring of 1998. The graphics, sound effects, and music were revolutionary at the time, but it’s the fighting itself that did the talking. A large amount of attacks and combos were there to be learnt, fluid controls kept the game easy to pick up, and the action itself was explosive and incredibly entertaining.

Tomb Raider

It may be hard to go back to in this day and age, but the original Tomb Raider belongs on this list thanks to the legacy it has created and the resulting series of games it has spawned. The world trekking adventure of Lara Croft was revolutionary back in 1996, featuring a female lead character and a cinematic approach to gameplay that at the time was unprecedented.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

The Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series lived and breathed PlayStation during its heyday, and the second instalment is widely considered to be the definitive one on the original PlayStation. It had a huge impact on the sports genre back in 2000 with a level of growth over its predecessor the industry had never seen before within a skateboarding game. It belongs on a list of PlayStation’s greatest thanks to being such a quality experience that it hasn’t been surpassed by another skateboarding game to this day.

Twisted Metal 2

The PSone was the home to car combat games, and it’s Twisted Metal 2 that hit this genre’s peak. The sequel expanded on everything the first game did right, and in turn offered more cars to destroy, more tracks to race around, and more characters to get to know. The genre may have fallen by the wayside in recent times, but revisiting Twisted Metal 2 would still be just as fun as it was 20 years ago.

WipEout

The futuristic racer may have been birthed on other consoles, but it’s the WipEout series that tweaked and fine-tuned the genre to become racing perfection. As a PSone launch title, WipEout brought something completely original to the console along with a booming techno soundtrack that created waves throughout the industry. It was an early showcase of what the PSone could do, and sequels then went on to build the classic WipEout series we know today.

Is there a game we missed? Would you be there day one for a PlayStation Mini Classic packed with PSone titles? Get nostalgic in the comments below.

That's a pretty good list although the main thing Sony would have to do is actually create enough units to satisfy demand unlike the Nintendo Minis with the limited numbers just asking scalpers to buy them up and charge buttloads for them

Can't sony just repackage leftover ps tv's in a mini ps1 case as many of these games are already available on the ps store? Then they can add more ps1 games to the store as they seem to have stopped that now that these games cannot be played on the ps4

@get2sammyb Why would it never happen? 10 of these 20 games are owned by Sony. The rest are owned by five different third-party developers, whereof three of them (Square Enix, Konami and Capcom) have already shown support by putting their games on both the NES Mini and SNES Mini and one of them (Bandai Namco) has already put games on the NES Mini. I can only see Pro Skater 2 being an issue since we don't know if Activision would support these kinds of projects.

No thank you. Most of those games have not aged well or have new versions that I would rather play. Even though some of those games are great and I have fond memories of playing them, they just don't hold up today. Probably the only ones that still hold up are the RPGs and Castlevania.

Im one of those people who dont really see the point in companies putting effort into porting old games to current gen. Im not TOTALLY against it but something in me just says, go get a ps1 for $10 and have at it. But whatever its all good lol. OK HERES AN IDEA! A reboot of BUSHIDO BLADE!!! the free roaming, limb chopping awesome af fighting game! Id be in love!

Seeing Ape Escape reminded me of how big a deal it was to be the first release to use the double analog controller for the PSone. It also reminded me of the 'can it be done without missing something in translation' articles before the PSP release.

What?? No Suikoden or The Legend of Dragoon. Contrary to popular opinion I personally prefer those two over Final Fantasy VII as far as RPGS go, though I appreciate these changes wouldn't make for a more desirable PS1 mini overall. Plus I'm sorry for every time I censored one of @kyleforrester87s naughty swears. He's such a dude!

@kyleforrester87 Not personal opinion, story wise both games were better, The characters in FF VII had no personalities. Cloud was a whiney EMO brat while Sephiroth was your sterotypical oh my mommy was mean to me so I am a bad guy villain. Yeah. The only reason it got as popular as it did was because of Sony's marketing if they marketed Suikoden or Legend of Dragoon the way they did FF VII then alot more people would have played the other two.

But I forgot it's against Sony Fanboy protocol to speak the truth of how mediocre FF VII is, kinda like saying how Hideo Kojima is way overrated as well.

And for the record sorry but not sorry, rules are rules and what kind of mod would I be if I just let everyone break the rules.

@Tasuki "not personal opinion" before you go on to state a massive personal opinion haha. But uhhu marketing is the only reason and all those millions of FF7 lovers are biased fanboys without real taste, keep dreaming though

@kyleforrester87 Yes, cause it's not hard to see that clearly those 2 games were better then FFVII. Reverse the roles if Legend of Dragoon and Suikoden got the marketing budget, was pushed as the killer app for the PS all those fanboys would be saying the reverse. People are coporate sheep. Whatever the coporations want people to like that's what people like. People are to afraid to be different and thus conform to what the coporations want us to like.

Let's be honest remove the Final Fantasy name and marketing budget and you have a pretty average RPG that I am positive that if it didn't have those two things no one would have remember it.

@Tasuki Fair does, obviously we won't change each other's minds. But I don't really like Uncharted but I know they are hugely popular so I just assume people are "getting" it in a way I dont. Nothing wrong with being in a monitory but it's always a better look to do it with some good grace instead of insulting everyone else's opinion. (Not that you were particularly insulting mind you, just saying. Perhaps taking a dump on would have been a better phrase lol)

@kyleforrester87 I am not a fan of Uncharted either but that's because I feel that it should be more of a movie, then a game same with the Metal Gear series. Those it's plain why people love those games, Final Fantasy VII there isn't beside corporate pushing and people afraid to go against the grain so to speak.

And it's not an insult when it's the truth. I mean I enjoy Zelda Ocarina of Time but honestly it's not that great of a game and I am not afraid to say that. It's a mediocre 3D adventure game and really only gets its praise because it was a Zelda title. There were far better games during that time like Zelda OoT that don't get the praise because they weren't Zelda.

Hey.... this was a post on your forum yesterday. Someone copied the idea into an article?? lol.As fun as the concept is, it will never happen.. the storage space alone for all those ISO images would be so cost prohibitive, it would never happen. SNES images are only a few meg in sizes.. some games ie: FF games) use multiple CD images. It'll never happen.. but I admit it sure would be a cool little item, even if it did end up as $200.

@Tasuki Gotta say for me, I agree as well on Legend of Dragoon at least. I like FF7, don't get me wrong, but I LOVE Legend of Dragoon. I've played through it more times than any RPG except maybe Chrono Trigger, so at least a dozen. Never got my hands on a Suikoden game, though I did pick up the second one for my Vita.

@carlos82 Which you may think won't sound much, but compared to a mini nes, snes or megadrive who's games were in magabits, the cost of goods is likely to be ten or twenty times the amount for the components of these devices

@JonnyMack a 32gb micro sd card can be bought for a few pounds, I have a Raspberry Pi and enough power/memory to play and hold these and many more, this cost me about £60 total at retail. With today's technology it'll cost peanuts to make such a thing and 20gb of memory will in no way be a limiting factor in all of this

@kyleforrester87 definitely, however if I were Sony I wouldn't make such a device anyway. I'd secure deals to distribute these on PS4 similar to how Xbox will now do with original Xbox games, that way we could have the benefits of increased framerates and resolution which these games would benefit greatly from. Unlike 16 bit sprites which are seemingly ageless, early 3D games look much worse today by comparison so could do with the extra processing power

@carlos82 I believe the Nes and Snes mini's upscale to 1080? They'll look pretty awful on HD TV's if they don't anyway, even though you're right the art style has aged better.

Obviously the PS2 re-releases are a higher resolution so I would like to see them release PS1 games in the same way. Sure it doesn't need to be on a dedicated console but there is a novelty factor there.

@kyleforrester87 Don't get me wrong if they released such a thing I'd be first in line trying to pre order and luckily have the Snes mini pre ordered. If they ever do i hope they give it a punchy cpu to upscale it properly.

Thinking about it if Nintendo keep doing this and others join in, at what point do we catch back up with ourselves? 🤔

@Gmork___ For me its the other way around i dont see the use for playing old relics they just ruin my good memories. I rather see them remade Resident Evil, Crash Bandicoot, Rachet & Clank are one of the best showcases why its good.

No no i im cool with an old game getting a complete overhaul/remake. Like the remake of resident evil 1 was awesome and that ratchet and clank game looked gorgeous. But simply just porting an old ps1 game over exactly as it was before, thats what i see as pointless. The exception are the arcade archive games which were never on a home console. Those are awesome!

So many games, it's difficult to choose only 20, but you made an excellent list.Series like Ape Escape, Medievil, Syphon Filter and Legend of Dragoon really deserve new games on PS4. I have hope that Spyro the Dragon will receive the same treatment of Crash Bandicoot and the classic trilogy will soon be available on PS4, can't wait for PSX.

If Sony ever made a PS1 Classic, I wonder if they would ever bother to localize any of it's Japan only 1st party exclusives to the West (The short answer is probably never), but something like that would be pretty cool.

@SwitchGlitch To be fair, most of the 3rd party games shown on this list are usually known to be synonymous to the PS1, like Metal Gear Solid, FF7, and Tekken.

Ah here's that list. Would still prefer a Squaresoft top 20 over a PS1 top 20 which didn't include Squaresoft, but a console w/ 10 Squaresoft and 10 non-Squaresoft games could be really good. Lots of good game mentions in the comments as well. Abe's Odyssey is a must and I dont' even like it anymore, but back then it was something.

why.not.have.both.gif

MGS has been remade or improved or something by now, no? I played it on PS1 then on Dreamcast using my Bleem disc and even that was a noticeable improvement.

These early games are so hard to jump back into for me. The low polygon count makes them visually unappealing compared to some other classic systems with 2D graphics or even 16-bit. The old control schemes are a challenge to adjust to also.

For me, I would rather play a remaster/rebuild like the Crash trilogy. My memories of these PS1 games are nice how they exist. I would prefer not to have them shattered by a mini-console of the unaltered versions. That does not mean that others cannot have fun with it though, it is just not for me.

I dunno... I don't think games from this particular era hold up that great. I feel no nostalgia for terrible 1st gen 3d polygonal graphics. Skip the PS1 (and Nintendo should skip the N64), and go straight to PS2 (and GameCube for Nintendo). Let people who haven't touched these games in almost 20 years remember them fondly, and don't drag em out to show how God-awful ugly they really are...

@VanguardKaiser fantastic picks... agreed 100%. in fact, i just completed parasite eve for the first time a week ago and really enjoyed it. the golden era of square and jrpgs came flooding back to me. einhander in particular is a great choice since it has never been made available on psn.

Have no nostalgia for PS1 at all. My original gaming days ended around SNES/Amiga time. This totally passed me by until I got a PS2 late in the day. I'd argue that the graphics on SNES were more enjoyable to look at than PS1 and all it's blockiness.

1. FFVII is a pointless addition here unless you just want to notch it in because it was one of the defining games from the PS1 generation. But everyone and their dog has played it and it's available to play on our toasters, I believe. Some of the PS1s lesser played, but great RPGs deserve the spot, like Suikoden3, Alundra, Grandia or Legend of Dragoon.
2. Thats a lot of space needed.. especially the multi-CD games. How much do you think this thing should cost? You don't need an expensive ARM cpu to do the emulation.. even the old PSP emulated PS1 at full speed, so the biggest cost factor is storage space. Sure it's come down in cost, but even the $80 SNES Mini only has 500mb on its systemboard.

@tomassi ..umm.. okay. But the topic was for a PS1 classic, and there's already a SNES one. And just because you didn't play it doesn't mean it was a garbage generation. As a matter of fact, you sure must have missed out on a great gaming generation.

@Party_Cannon I didn't say it was a garbage generation, I said I wasn't interested in it. I don't think the graphics hold up well in comparison with other consoles. In my opinion games on the SNES have aged far better hence why I compared the two. It's got nothing to do with SNES mini's or PS1 classics or whatever is already on the market.

I would personally switch Final Fantasy 7 for 8 or 9 instead. I love all three, but 7 gets all the love, and you can already play it in a myriad of ways across PS4 and PS3. We still can't play 8 or 9 on PS4, though, and I would love to play through them again.

I would also add Croc or Gex 3D and Ridge Racer Type-4 or Rage Racer in here. Also, the original Colin Mcrae Rally was a big deal back on PSOne. I played it to death. In terms of its gameplay, it still holds up well today. I can see that making the cut! Otherwise this is a pretty solid list.

What I would expect from SONY is a larger collection of games. Probably closer to the 20 range, if they were to do it all. They are all about justifying that value. If it was at 10 games, I think they'd go for the $70-$80 price range. 20 games they'd hit $100.

It'd be more interesting if they released some huge Classics collection that included PS1/PS2/PSP/PSV titles or something like that though. A huge assortment of games.

How about nearly every game on that system, stop messing about with the license crap (which should be abolished in this stay and age) and release every game available. Every company from he worst like EA have been sitting on great franchises for years and haven't done anything about it because of license issues. It's the 20th century and I agree with the CEO of netflix everyone should have access to all content for what they pay that's the same service eg netflix UK vs. US content and vise versa

That is by far the worse selection of ps games anyone could ask for.
How about asking for games that rarely get noticed like
Tobal no2 (most likely won't happen in the west because it's a Japan only release)
Breath of Fire 3
Breath of Fire 4
Beyond the Beyond
Castlevania Symphony of the Night
Legend of Dragoon
Parasite Eve
Blood Omen Legacy of Kain
Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver
Xenogears
Chrono Cross
Panzer Bandit (most likely won't happen in the west because it's a Japan only release)
Battle Arena Toshinden
Battle Arena Toshinden 2
MM Legends
MM Legends 2

It doesn't have a Dual Shock Analog controller so it wouldn't be able to play Ape Escape sadly Anyway it's soooo CUTE I NEED IT!!! Would be cool if Crash and Tomb Raider and MGS and RE and WipeOut3 and GT and Driver and CTR was on it to. If not then it can't be the Ultimate PS1 sadly. Oh well, I'll wait and see what other games are on it

Not sure if I'm going to buy one. I feel PS1 games have aged really badly, a lot worse than SNES, but it might be cool to own one. Everybody's golf should hopefully be on it to. I wonder what the loading time's will be like 🤔.

Here's my probably non-standard wishlist, quite unlikely but it'd be cool if some of these titles were included. Old 3D games seem to age a bit harder than pixel games imo, but I consider most all of below as classics. Starred entries being most wanted.

Klonoa
*Harvest Moon: Back to Nature
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

*Mega Man X4
*Mega Man Legends
*Misadventures of Tron Bonne

I know some ppl mention Ape Escape, and it's a good game but unlikely since it's not dual shock controllers.
Other games I'd be interested in is Croc, Breath of Fire 4, Worms, Oddworld Abe's Oddysee. I recall liking one of the Twisted Metal games. Oh yeah, and Marvel vs Capcom was good fun. An obscure but fun rpg most probably haven't heard of is Guardian's Crusade. Oh, and Threads of Fate was a fun one.

If there's one PS console I'm going to buy for Christmas, it's gonna be this one.That said, I'd put a 2 after each now-Activision-owned mascot you put in there. Spyro 2 was the perfect mix between the first game's fantasy-inspired style and the third's refined gameplay, while Crash Bandicoot 2 is more or less the definitive Crash experience.